Mary A. Bancroft Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is in the amount of $1000.00 and is open to all students of Kansas colleges and universities conducting research on Kansas plants.
Nomination
2011 Recipient
Name
Jacob Olsen; Fort Hays State University; Hays, KSResearch
Effects of precipitation and ecotype on the physiology and anatomy of big bluestem and sand bluestem
Image
Jacob Olsen
Personal Interest in Plants
As a young child I learned much about plants from my father as we hiked and camped in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Stinging nettle was the first plant I learned about. After brushing up against stinging nettle for my first time, my father showed me dock plant, which is used to calm the stinging sensation and is generally found near stinging nettle. As I entered college I was unsure of my career path and tried accounting and engineering, but quickly lost interest. I began to take a few biology classes and the sections on plants always piqued my interest. I then worked for a year in the Garrett Herbarium at the Utah Museum of Natural History. When I finally took a class on plant anatomy and physiology, I knew what I wanted to do, and for a semester after my class I was able to work in the plant physiology lab as an undergraduate. Now as a graduate student, I am researching the physiology of plants and their incredible abilities to adapt to changing conditions.
2009 Recipient
Name
Kristen Polacik; Fort Hays State University; Hays, KSResearch
Response to Flooding in Invasive Saltcedar
Image
Kristen Polacik
2009 Recipient
Name
Steven Roels; University of Kansas; Lawrence, KSResearch
Reproductive Ecology of Mead's Milkweed
Image
Steven Roels
2004 Recipient
Name
Cathy Collins; University of Kansas
Research
Restoration study that focuses on plant-fungal mutualism of native tallgrass prairie plants
Personal Interest in Plants
After moving to Kansas two years ago and working with Dr. Bryan Foster, she became interested in her present native plant study. "When I began learning about prairie plants, I was fascinated to learn that plant-fungal mutualisms help drive the patterns of plant diversity. Most plants form symbiotic relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). However in Kansas tallgrass prairies, this mutualism is of particular importance because the presence of AMF plays a key role in determining whether warm-season or cool-season grasses dominate a prairie site. Consequently, the presence of AMF significantly alters plant community composition and diversity."
2002 Recipient
Name
M. Alison Hamm; Friends University; Wichita, KS
2001 Recipient
Lorrie Parrish; Pittsburg State University; Pittsburg, KS
2001 Recipient
Shelly Wiggam Harper; Kansas State University; Manhattan, KS
1999 Recipient
Tom Benenati; Emporia State University; Emporia, KS
1998 Recipient
Sarah J. Kafka; Benedictine College; Atchison, KS
